Kind Pointers to Info Streams

Standing out at a Career Faire can make a difference in your job hunt. Job Faires are starting to pick up, and a major job search company is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a Bay Area Career Faire in January, 10 companies as showing up, and Dice has 82 job fairs scheduled for this year across the States.

How do you rise above the crowd at a Job Faire? The contention can be considerable, but you can help yourself leap out from the gang with early preparation. At AA-Careers, we have a simple 6-step process to prepare. Planning to go? Here’s how to prepare:

First, research the companies that are going and pick your targets. Use the web to check out the organizations that are there ahead of time. Go to their websites and see if they have their job openings posted. Pick a rational number to target, and get ready to spend about an hour researching each one. It’s hard to do more than 8 in a day, and four to six is a much more reasonable target. For each hiring organization, you want to know: key product lines, recent news, and executive names. Try to see if you know anyone at the target companies. You’ll end up with a page or two of research for each company/job.

Second, if there are job openings on the web, read them to see what the company is looking for. Create a mapping of your accomplishments and skills to the demands of the job. Make the terminology match. If the hiring organization calls customers "clients", your resume should do the same thing. The accomplishments should be written in the style of the hiring company.

Third, create a ‘brief sales pitch’ for each potential company/position combination. Write down a 60 second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat out loud depicting why you are a good candidate for that job. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet the team from the company at the job stall.

Fourth, modify your resume for each opportunity. The objective on your resume should exactly match the position you’re targeting. The executive summary should be a written form of your “mini sales pitch” for the job. Then choose the accomplishments and skills that most clearly match the job requirements. Especially at a Job Faire, the purpose of your resume is a sales tool for you – to get you on-site job interviews. It should be a no-brainer to see that you’re a match based on your resume.

Fifth, practice your ‘mini-sales-pitch’. Collect your research and the resume for each position - bring a couple of copies for each – and put each in a intelligibly labeled folder. Keep them in a light briefcase or folio.

Finally, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress well and be well groomed. Avoid strong cologne or perfume…use any eau de cologne or scent sparingly, if at all.

Remember to smile, and good hunting!